Sonar (SOund Navigation And Ranging) has long been used to detect waterborne or underwater objects. For example, sonar devices may be used to determine depth and bottom topography, detect fish, locate wreckage, etc. Sonar transducer elements, or simply transducers, may convert electrical energy into sound or vibrations at a particular frequency. A sonar sound beam is transmitted into and through the water and is reflected from objects it encounters. The transducer may receive the reflected sound (the “sonar returns”) and convert the sound energy into electrical energy. These sonar returns provide time data that represents the time taken by the sound wave to travel from the transducer to the object and return as sonar returns to the transducer. Using the time in combination with the known speed of sound, a distance to the location of each sonar return may be determined.
In order to resolve the structure of the underwater environment and provide a detailed and intuitive image to the user, improved sonar systems are required. Applicant has further identified a number of deficiencies and problems associated with conventional sonar systems and other associated systems. Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, many of these identified problems have been solved by developing solutions that are included in embodiments of the present invention, many examples of which are described in detail herein.